A multiterminal communication network typically provides more cost-effective communication between a plurality of users than use of exclusively owned or rented channels. Such a network includes a number of data sources, data sinks and a number of channels connecting the data sources and data sinks. In a digital communication system the outputs of the data sources are encoded into serial bit streams, which are then generally packetized for transmission to the data sinks along a packet channel.
A multi-access communication network utilizes a plurality of transmitters and receivers. Generally, such a network contains many elements, such as multiway feedback, that contribute to the complexity of operation. Sharing of the multi-access communication network by many users creates the problem of contention resolution, which is usually handled by blocking and delay. Sharing of the channel by a multiplicity of users necessitates a system of sharing that avoids simultaneous transmissions by different users. One method of sharing the channel, termed fixed-assignment multi-access signaling, is to break it down into subchannels and to assign each subchannel to a different user. Another method of sharing the channel, termed random access signaling, allows users to transmit at will. Thus, in random access signaling, collisions of transmissions may occur, resulting in garbling a received signal, or alternatively, one user may be granted access to use the channel. Thus, there is a need for providing access acknowledgment to the user that has been granted access to the packet channel in instances where capture occurs.